1. Technical Field
The subject invention relates generally to an air diffuser assembly and more specifically, to an air diffuser assembly supported on a T-shaped support bar in a suspended ceiling.
2. Background Art
By way of background, office buildings and the like commonly comprise a suspended ceiling spaced below and supported by an upper permanent ceiling. The space provided between the two ceilings facilitates the housing of various electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling structures required for the area occupied beneath the ceiling. The suspended ceiling generally includes a plurality of longitudinally extending spaced apart T-shaped support bars crossing transversely over similarly spaced apart T-shaped support bars forming a grid of generally square or rectangular sections to receive and support acoustical ceiling tiles as are commonly known in the art.
An air distribution system is commonly disposed in the ceiling space for dispersing conditioned air throughout the area below the suspended ceiling. An air plenum receives air from air ducts and supplies the conditioned air to an air diffuser assembly for dispersement from the ceiling into the area therebelow. Generally, the air diffuser assembly and plenum are positioned longitudinally along one of the T-shaped support bars and supported on opposite ends between adjacent spaced apart transverse T-shaped support bars.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,406,623 to Lambert, issued Oct. 22, 1968 discloses a plenum air diffuser assembly adapted for use in a suspended ceiling composed of T-shaped support bars supporting a plurality of acoustic ceiling tiles. The plenum air diffuser assembly comprises a rear wall having an upper portion defining part of the plenum and a lower portion defining part of the air diffuser. The lower portion of the wall is turned inwardly to provide a flange to rest longitudinally along the length of a T-shaped support bar extending between adjacent transverse T-shaped support bars. In an alternative embodiment, the plenum air diffuser assembly includes two diffuser outlets centrally separated by a longitudinal T-shaped support bar. In this embodiment, the assembly is supported by its opposite ends on the transverse T-shaped support bars.
Similarly, the U.S. Pat. No. 3,757,668 to Dean, Jr., issued Sep. 11, 1973 discloses an air diffuser assembly including a housing for receiving conditioned air from an air supply duct and a lower diffuser portion for dispersing the air beneath a suspended ceiling. The lower diffuser portion comprises a plurality of directional plates space apart and forming a longitudinal air flow channel. The air diffuser is displaced adjacent and parallel to longitudinally extending inverted T-shaped support bars of a suspended ceiling such that the conditioned air may be dispersed therebeneath. The air flow channel includes first and second ends closed by first and second end caps. The end caps matingly engage transverse T-shaped support bars on opposite ends of the assembly to support the diffuser thereon.
The prior art air diffuser assemblies are deficient in that it is often desirable to provide a longitudinal air plenum having a continuous air outlet extending the length of several longitudinal adjacent air diffuser assemblies support at opposite ends between adjacent transverse T-bars. However, the continuous air plenum outlet will disperse air not only to the air diffuser air flow channels but also into the gap created between the ends of the adjacent air diffuser assemblies supported by the transverse T-bar. Therefore, to facilitate uniform air distribution from the air diffusers, the air gap created between the adjacent air diffusers along the transverse T-bars must be block such that conditioned air is prevented from flowing between the adjacent diffusers and restricted to flowing in the air flow channel of the air diffusers exclusively.